Lamp shade



Feb. 15, 1955 Q TRADEUUS 2,702,341

LAMP SHADE I Filed April 15 1951 INVEN o Gar/ 77a a 11/5 ATTO R N EYS United States Patent LAMP SHADE Carl Tradelius, New York, N. Y.

Application April 13, 1951, Serial No. 220,866

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-108) This invention relates to improvements in lamp shades, and more particularly to improved lamp shades of the type described in my prior application Serial No. 145,436, filed February 21, 1950.

The improved lamp shade of the present invention comprises a pair of spaced upper and lower frame members secured to each other by a plurality of stays, and a plurality of thin, resilient, flexible strips of uniform width and of somewhat curved or arcuate cross-section forming the lamp shade elements and which are secured to the frame members, with interlocking means on the slats or on the frame members or both adapted to hold the shade elements on the frame and prevent lateral displacement thereof.

In my said prior application I have described a lamp shade made of frame members and shade elements made up of thin, resilient, flexible strips of uniform width and somewhat curved or arcuate cross-section with the lamp shade elements secured to the frame members.

The improved lamp shade of the present invention not only has the shade elements secured to the frame but has them secured in predetermined spaced relationship so that the shade elements when attached to the frame cannot be moved laterally but are held in predetermined fixed position.

According to the present invention the upper and lower frame members of the lamp shade have offset or recessed or cut-away portions spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of the shade elements or somewhat less and the shade elements have portions thereof at the upper and lower portions which cooperate with such recessed portions so that each shade element is held in place on the frame in spaced relation.

Ordinary lampshades are made of upper and lower frame members of wire, usually annular in shape. According to the present invention the upper and lower frame members have recessed or cut-away or offset portions adapted to receive a portion of the shade elements to hold them securely in position laterally with respect to each other.

According to one embodiment of the invention the frame members are made of annular strips of relatively thin, stiff material having a plurality of spaced notches formed in one edge, such as the lower edge of the upper frame member and the upper edge of the lower frame member, and which are adapted to receive offset or projected portions of the individual slats to hold them in place.

According to another embodiment of the invention the upper and lower frame members are made of wire which is bent to form alternating projecting and recessed portions (advantageously either substantially vertically or substantially horizontally) for receiving corresponding portions of the slats to hold them in place on the frame.

The lampshade frame is made of upper and lower frame members united by a plurality of wire stays which are advantageously detachable from the frame members to permit collapsing of the frame for shipping purposes and ready assembly of the frame for use.

The lamp shade elements may be similar to those described in my prior application or may be somewhat modified to provide them with portions for engaging the spaced recesses or oflset portions of the frame members. The lamp shade elements, or as they may be subsequently termed, slats, are thus made of thin, resilient, flexible strips of uniform width and somewhat curved or arcuate cross-section.

One advantage of the new lamp shade is that the individual elements are readily removed and replaced thus permitting ready washing or cleaning of the shade or the replacing of elements of one color with elements of another color to give the shade a different appearance.

Another advantage of the new lamp shade is the predetermined positioning of the lamp shade elements with respect to the frame by reason of the spaced notches or projecting and recessed portions formed in the upper and lower frame members. Thus when attaching the indi vidual slats or elements to the frame no difliculty is encountered in properly positioning them with respect to one another because such positioning is arbitrarily determined by the position of the notches or recessed portions in the frame members.

A further advantage of the new lamp shade is the compactness with which it can be packaged for sale or storage. This stems from the fact that the lamp shade elements or slats, which are of one type for a particular shade, may be compactly stacked and from the fact that the frame itself is collapsible.

For a more detailed understanding of my invention reference may be made to the accompanying drawing in which several forms of lamp shades according to this invention are illustrated, and in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one advantageous embodiment,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which a stay may be detachably secured to a frame member,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a second embodiment of lamp shade coming within the scope of this invention, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a third embodiment of lamp shade.

The lamp shade frame illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing comprises an upper frame member 10 and a lower frame member 11 each of which consists of a relatively thin strip of rather stiff material forming a circular ring. The upper frame member 10 is of substantially smaller diameter than the lower frame member 11 and is provided with a permanent spider structure indicated generally at 12 by which the composite shade may be supported on a lamp. It will be understood, of course, that the circular shape of the frame members is chosen here merely for illustrative purposes and that any number of other shapes might be equally as readily employed, for instance, square, polygonal, etc.

The frame members 10 and 11 are maintained in spaced relationship with respect to one another by a plurality of stays 13. Each stay 13 is provided at its opposite ends with bent portions 14 terminating in tapered ends 15 as is clearly seen in Fig. 2. The frame members are provided with holes 16 to receive the tapered ends 15 of the stays in a tight fit whereby the stays may be detachably secured thereto. Thus in packaging individual lamp shades the frame may be in collapsed condition and considerable space may be saved by reason of the collapsibility thereof.

The lamp shade elements or slats 17 are of thin, flexible, resilient material such as Venetian blind slat material as disclosed in my copending application. At its upper end each slat 17 is cut or slotted to form a portion 18 which is bent back and forms an offset portion. At its lower end each slat is also cut or slotted to form a portion 19 which is also bent back to form an offset portion.

The opposing edges of the frame members 10 and 11 are each provided with a predetermined arrangement of regularly spaced notches or recesses 20 and 21 to receive offset portions 18 and 19 of the slats. As shown in the drawing, the offset portion 18 at the upper end of each slat is nearer one edge of the slat than the other. This arrangement of the oflset portions 18 near one edge and the spaced arrangement of notches 20 in frame member 10 enables the offset portion 18 of each slat and that portion of the frame member 10 which is not covered by the slat to be covered by the overlapping portion of the next slat when it is applied to the shade frame.

The offset portions 19 of the lower ends of the slats, however, are substantially centrally located and by reason of this, in addition to the particular spacing of notches 21 in the lower frame member 11, these portions 19, as well as part of the frame member 11 not covered by the lower ends of the slats, will not be covered and the frame member will be visible. However, it is contemplated that in a lamp shade where portions of the frame member are to be visible and not concealed from view the frame member will advantageously be made of special material such as bronze or be provided with a coating which harmonizes with the colors of the shade elements applied thereto. It will be understood, of course, that the offset portions at the lower ends of the slats may be so arranged that no part of the lower frame member will show in the finished shade. This is illustrated in my copending application.

Although the length of the individual elements or slats 17 is greater than the distance between the upper and lower frame members and 11, the flexible nature of the material from which they are made enables them to be bent so that the offset portions can readily be inserted in the notches of the frame members to engage the inner sides thereof. The curved or arcuate cross section of the elements causes them to return to and stay in their normal unbent positions.

Where it is desired to use slats or elements having offset portions located other than as shown, different spacings of the notches 20 and 21 in the frame members will be employed. The fact that one particular type of slat is here illustrated and that therefore but one spaced arrangement of notches in the frame members is illustrated should not be understood as limiting the scope of this invention. Furthermore, it will be readily understood that the slats might be made of material other than Flexalum which has been specifically mentioned. For instance. thin, flexible, resilient plastic elements might be used.

In the modified embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3 the slats or shade elements 17' are identical to those shown in the embodiment of Fig. 1. However in this type of lamp shade the frame member 10' is of a somewhat different form than is frame member 10 in Fig. l, the primary difference being that frame member 10' is formed 4 of wire bent to have projecting portions 25 and recessed portions 26, the recessed portions 26 corresponding in function to the notches or recesses 20 in frame member 10. As may be seen in Fig. 3, the wire is bent in a substantially vertical plane and the slats or elements 17' may be attached to it in exactly the same manner as they are to the frame of the shade shown in Fig. 1, their offset portions 18 being received by recessed portions 26 of frame member 10. Thus as is the case for the lamp shade of Fig. 1, the slats or elements 17 when applied to the frame members (the upper frame member 10' alone being shown in Fig. 3) of the shade of Fig. 3 are maintained in predetermined spaced relation with respect to one another thereon and are prevented from any lateral movement on the frame members. Furthermore, during the course of attaching slats or elements 17 to frame member 10' no particular care must be given to the spacing of the elements with respect to one an.- other upon the frame member to achieve uniformity in appearance because the spaced recessed portions 26 predetermine the positioning of the elements.

In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 4 the slats 17" are substantially the same as the slats or elements 17' of the previous embodiment with one exception, that exception being that portions 18" thereof are not offset from the planes of the slats proper. Instead slats 17" are each provided with a pair of slots 27 which define portions 18" and which are adapted to receive a portion of a frame member. In this embodiment the frame member 10" is formed of a narrow strip material or a piece of Wire bent to provide projecting portions 28, each of which is adapted to extend through a pair of slots 27 in a slat or element 17 and to extend outwardly in front of portion 18" thereof. Projecting portions 28 may be considered as defining recesses or recessed portions in the frame member 10" adapted to receive therein portions 18" formed by the pairs of slots in the ends of the slats. It will be noted that when made of Wire the frame member 10" illustrated in Fig. 4 is very similar to that illustrated in Fig. 3 except that the wire is deformed in a horizontal plane, whereas, as previously indicated, the wire forming frame member 10 in Fig. 3 is deformed in a generally vertical plane. The application or attachment of the slats or shade elements 17" to the frame member 10" may be the same as is the case with those of the embodiments of Figs. 1 and 3.

In the embodiments of both Figs. 3 and 4 it will of course be understood that only an upper frame member is shown and that the lower frame member (not shown) in each case will advantageously be similar to the upper frame member. Furthermore, though no stays are illustrated for the shades of Figs. 3 and 4 it is contemplated that any detachable type may be employed or, if it is desired that these frames not be collapsible any permanently secured type may be employed.

The advantages of the lamp shades of this invention, derived from the provision of notches or projecting or recessed portions in the upper and lower frame members and the provision of detachable means for securing the stays to the frame members, are that the slats or elements may be more readily and easily applied to the lamp shade frames in uniform relation with respect to one another and the lamp shade frames themselves may be readily collapsed for packaging or storage.

Various modifications and changes may, of course, be-

ospaced notches in its edge which faces the other frame member, and a plurality of slats of thin flexible material of substantially uniform width connecting and arranged around the two frame members, the ends of the slats each having a pair of slots formed in it, the portion of a slat between slots being offset from the portions on the opposite sides of the slots, said portion entering a notchin a frame member and engaging one side of the frame member and said portions engaging the other side thereof, and each slat being preshaped to have a slightly curved transverse section.

2. A lamp shade according to claim 1 in which each of the slats overlaps an adjacent slat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 671,814 Catlin Apr. 9, 1901 1,508,223 Hartmann Sept. 9, 1924 1,654,974 Johnson Jan. 3, l928 2,230,186 Johns et a1. Jan. 28, 1941 2,400,944 Morgenroth May 28, 1946 2,538,676 Enright Jan. 16, 1951 2,608,644 Flint Aug. 26, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 367,683 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1932 

